Abhishek Sharma Sets India's Fastest T20I Century Record

Abhishek Sharma reached a century off just 30 balls against Afghanistan on Thursday, the fastest hundred any Indian has ever scored in T20 international cricket. The search spike around his name is really two separate questions people are typing into Google: how fast was this, really, and what does “fastest T20I century” even mean when a name like Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan sits above Sharma on some lists but not others. Both questions have real answers, and the second one is the more useful of the two.

What happened

India played the third and final T20I of their series against Afghanistan at Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on September 17, 2026. Sharma, opening the batting, reached fifty off 16 balls and a hundred off 30, going on to finish 108 off 34 deliveries with nine fours and 11 sixes before he was caught behind off Rashid Khan in the 10th over. His 30-ball hundred beat the previous fastest century by an Indian men’s batter, Rohit Sharma’s 35-ball hundred against Sri Lanka at Indore in December 2017, by five balls.

India put up 221 for 7 in their 20 overs, built largely in the powerplay: the openers took the total to 100 without loss inside the first six overs, India’s best-ever powerplay score in T20Is, with Sharma alone contributing 76 runs off 22 balls in that period, the highest individual score in the powerplay (overs 1-6) recorded in men’s T20I history. It was also his 37th six in T20I powerplays in the 2026 calendar year, breaking his own record of 34 set the year before. Afghanistan were bowled out for 94 in 14.1 overs in reply, handing India a 127-run win and a 3-0 sweep of the series.

How “fastest T20I century” rankings actually work

The record itself is simple to define: it is just a count of the fewest balls a batter has needed to go from 0 to 100 runs in a single recognised T20 international innings, tracked automatically from ball-by-ball scoring data the moment a century is reached. What confuses most casual readers is that there are effectively two separate leaderboards in circulation, and mainstream cricket coverage usually only reports one of them.

Every match between two of the ICC’s 12 full member nations, the Test-playing countries such as India, Australia, England, South Africa and Afghanistan, counts as a T20I under the same rules as a match involving an ICC associate or affiliate nation like Estonia, Turkey or Cyprus. Both kinds of match are recognised T20Is and both feed the same all-time record book. But associate-level matches are frequently played between sides with far smaller playing pools and much wider gaps in bowling quality, so a handful of associate batters have posted faster centuries than anyone from a full-member team, and cricket statisticians and boards typically publish a second, narrower list restricted to full-member nations because that is the pool the sport’s mainstream competitive structure actually draws from.

That split is exactly why Sharma’s innings is being called both the “third-fastest T20I century ever” and “the fastest T20I century by an Indian” in the same breath, and why neither claim contradicts the other.

Chauhan’s and Fahad’s centuries are the two fastest by any nation on record, both against associate opposition; Chauhan’s unbeaten 144 off 41 balls against Cyprus also carries the separate men’s T20I record for most sixes in an innings, 18. Sharma’s 30-ball hundred is the fastest by a player from a full ICC member nation, edging past the 35-ball mark Rohit Sharma and David Miller had jointly held since 2017.

The bigger picture

The 127-run margin made this the most one-sided finish of the series and capped a clean 3-0 sweep for India, with the contest effectively over inside the first six overs once the powerplay total reached 100 without loss.

IndiaRealTime’s live cricket scores page tracks fixtures and results across India’s international and major domestic matches, updated through the day. The series was played entirely at Delhi venues, including the decider at Arun Jaitley Stadium.

Elsewhere on IndiaRealTime this week: India’s semiconductor mission got its first Rs 1.64 lakh crore in approvals, and we looked at why Vishwakarma Puja falls on the same date, September 17, every year.

FAQs

How fast was Abhishek Sharma’s century against Afghanistan?
He reached 100 runs off 30 balls on September 17, 2026, in the third T20I at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi, finishing on 108 off 34 balls with nine fours and 11 sixes.

Is this the fastest T20I century ever, or just the fastest by an Indian?
It is the fastest by an Indian and by any player from a full ICC member (Test-playing) nation. Two associate-nation batters, Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan (27 balls) and Turkey’s Muhammad Fahad (29 balls), have reached centuries faster in the all-time list that includes every recognised T20I.

Whose Indian record did Sharma break?
Rohit Sharma’s 35-ball century against Sri Lanka at Indore in December 2017, which had also been jointly the fastest by any full-member nation batter, tied with South Africa’s David Miller (35 balls, vs Bangladesh, October 2017).

What was the final result of the match and series?
India scored 221 for 7 and bowled Afghanistan out for 94 in 14.1 overs, winning by 127 runs to complete a 3-0 series sweep.

What other records did Sharma set in this innings?
His 76 runs off 22 balls in the powerplay is the highest individual score in the powerplay (overs 1-6) in men’s T20I history, and his 37th powerplay six of the 2026 calendar year broke his own record of 34, set in 2025. India’s 100 for 0 after six overs was also the team’s best-ever T20I powerplay score.

Sources

• Telangana Today: Abhishek Sharma rewrites India’s fastest T20I century record
• Outlook India: India vs Afghanistan 3rd T20I 2026, Abhishek Sharma century fastest world record
• Gulf Today: Abhishek Sharma smashes fastest T20 century against Afghanistan
• Yardbarker: Abhishek Sharma creates world record with a 16-ball fifty vs Afghanistan
• ESPN: Estonia’s Sahil Chauhan smashes quickest men’s T20I century, 27 balls
• ICC: World record knock sees fastest-ever men’s T20I century hit off just 27 balls
• Sky Sports: South Africa’s David Miller smashes fastest T20I hundred off just 35 balls

Updated September 17, 2026, after the third T20I between India and Afghanistan at Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.